Apoorve Nayyar, MD is a breast surgery research fellow at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He is a proud member of the AWS, a proponent of #HeForShe in medicine and shares his latest blog post on the Role of HeForShe in gender equity with the Association of Women Surgeons.
“With its unusually large proportion of highly educated and qualified women, medicine should be leading the way in gender equity. Leaders who have it within their power to address barriers to the advancement of women — and all underrepresented people — should behave ethically and resolve to act, expeditiously and with steadfastness.” – Dr. Julie K. Silver, Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School & founder, sheleadshealthcare.com
“I raise my voice – not so I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard. We cannot succeed when half of us are held back.” – Malala Yousafzai
In 1847, Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to be admitted to a medical school in the United States, after overcoming significant opposition. In 2017, nearly a century and a half later, more women than men were enrolled in medical schools in the U.S. for the first time in history. While we have made great strides in reducing the barriers to inclusion of women in medicine, true gender equity in healthcare remains elusive…